September 18, 2007

'Back to You' gets back to comedy basics

It's not the most innovative TV show of the fall , nor the most buzzed-about. So what? Very few new programs will bring viewers more pleasure than the comedy "Back to You" (7 p.m. Wednesday, WFLD-Ch. 32).

This is one of those comedies in which the actors’ and writers’ skills are so sharp that the whole enterprise feels effortless. “Back to You” is as familiar and as comforting as Mom’s pot roast and mashed potatoes, and I dare all you TV snobs to try to resist this show’s utterly mainstream charms.

Grammer is on familiar ground , playing local-news personality Chuck Darling, who has slid a few notches down the career ladder after an on-camera rant was posted on YouTube. Sharing the anchor desk is Kelly Carr (Heaton), who had a fling with Chuck a decade ago, just before he left for greener pastures, and has been in Pittsburgh since he left. Now she’s forced to share an office with both Chuck and his ego, and it’s a tight fit.

As was the case with “NewsRadio” (which this sitcom’s setup echoes) and “Frasier” (another comedy set partly in the broadcasting world), “Back to You” has an outstanding ensemble cast. In the second episode, Ty Burrell’s character, Gary Crezyzewski, a reporter whose self-doubt and unpronounceable name keep him from the anchor chair, gets zapped by a Taser for a sweeps-week story. Post-Tasering, his shaking and chattering are hilarious. So what if that kind of slapstick material is a little obvious? In the right hands, it’s also good fun.

Another standout is Fred Willard as Marsh McGinley, a not-very-bright sports anchor from the old school. He may still think PMS jokes are appropriate office humor, but he’s also tech-savvy enough to turn the audio from one of Gary’s more embarrassing on-air moments into his cell phone’s ring tone.

Also sharp are Josh Gad as news director Ryan Church, who’s all of 26 and has been in TV news for a matter of weeks, and Ayda Field as weather anchor Montana Diaz Herrera; let’s hope the latter is given more to do than roll her r’s and shake her ample assets around the station.

There are plenty of jabs at local-news follies, but the real focus is on Chuck and Kelly. Chuck’s not a bad guy, just a pompous gasbag and a commitmentphobe (“I get a yearly reminder card from the dentist and I think he’s suffocating me,” he quips). Grammer and Heaton are masters of trading pointed jabs yet still seeming sympathetic, and “Back to You” has an ample dose of heart without treading too close to cheeseball territory.

One “Back to You” story line has Chuck attempting to hide from Kelly that he killed a goldfish he got as a gift. Sure, it’s a slender hook, but when it comes to comedy, there’s no real need to reinvent the wheel every time.

“Back to You” proves, in fact, that the wheel wasn’t necessarily broken after all.

Comments

Mo--It continues to amaze me that you like this show. Everything I've seen and heard make it seem like it has all of the worse characteristics of lame, unoriginal sitcoms (which is why it should succeed). I heard that PMS joke on the radio today:

Willard: Well, Kelly has been on edge lately. I made a PMS joke the other day, and she threw a cup at me.
Grammer: Who's proving whose point?

That's funny? That's recycled humor that wasn't funny in the first place. To me, the notion that Willard is that backwards but is tech savvy nonetheless is unbelievable and inconsistent, not clever.

Well, watch the whole thing and then decide whether you think I'm crazy. Which I may be, OK, I am.

No, really, I just found it funny. I guess there's a big ole streak of mainstream-comedy-liking in me. I've trashed so many sitcoms that I thought were lame or uninspired or stupid or derivative. I really have. I just laughed at this one. I just liked it. I know a lot of other critics don't, but I don't ever want to lie to you.

I disagree with my favorite critics sometimes. I just try to ignore their lapses ;) Hope you can do so here.

I find it amusing that Ayda Field was on "Studio 60" last season (where she should've played Harriet rather than cold fish Sarah Paulson). If Sorkin ever does a series again, he probably won't cast her.

In an interview with NPR, Chuck Lorre of "2.5 Men" emphasized that most sitcoms only used canned laughter to cover up edits--if a joke bombs, they rewrite it. Are they going to have start putting audience reaction shots in multi-camera sitcoms to get you people to stop saying "laugh track" when you know darn well they're filmed with a studio audience?

I agree with Mo that there is nothing wrong with a show that is simply well done and enjoyable. I do not expect all shows to make a moral comment on society or explore uncharted territory. Sometimes I just want to sit down and watch an enjoyable piece of fluff and escape from the rest of my un-fluffy life.

Well it looks like the kind of simple and accessible sitcom that I would enjoy, not that I am a connoisseur of any sort and Mo's reccomendation is enough for me to watch (even though I am a fan of 2 and a half men for the same reasons she likes this show).

I just might tune in tonight, but what I find funny about "Back To You" is that it's a show about a TV news program filmed with high definition cameras, while none of FOX's O&O affiliates air their local news in high def yet. Alas, that's the world of entertainment in the digital age.

I stand corrected on laugh tracks--honestly, I guess I just assumed that's what it was because it seemed so cued to follow what (to me, I emphasize) was an unfunny line. I have to admit, I wasn't thinking that they film in front of an audience. I don't watch shows like "2.5 Men," so it just really struck me as a throwback to hear laughter.

Not to be a harpy, but just one more thing on this show (and BTW, I might watch Gossip Girl, so I'm not one to judge others' viewing habits): How many episodes will it take before viewers find out Chuck is the father of Kelly's kid?

When I watched it, I found myself watching ACTORS doing ACTING. It was like watching a stage show. No laughs. Hopefully the actors can throw a little spontaneity into their acting, maybe even a little improv, a slittle slapstick. Otherwise we're all going to be watching Two and Half Men and then going back to You Tube for entertainment.

I watched it last night and I am somewhere between Maureen and Doug Elfman on this one. It had some really good moments and some tedious ones. In the end, I added it to my regular DVR list. Everything doesn't have to be life-changing TV just to be worth watching.

I watched it last night and I am somewhere between Maureen and Doug Elfman on this one. It had some really good moments and some tedious ones. In the end, I added it to my regular DVR list. Everything doesn't have to be life-changing TV just to be worth watching.

Wow -- I had somewhat realistic (read: low) hopes for this one after Mo's review, but we only lasted 5 minutes before we could take no more. I really, really gave this show a shot, but I can't remember the last time I saw anything on TV that was so morbidly unfunny. What Showgirls did to Elizabeth Berkeley's career, this show does to the SitCom.

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